random thoughts on ministry and life

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New blog/website featuring our Golden Retriever, Buddy. Excited to add a new golden retriever female pup to our family in a couple of weeks, and hopefully in a couple of years, a whole litter of puppies. Nothing is as sweet as a golden.

It had been a rough week for our family. We showed up for Sunday School at the reservation church we serve and found the south wall and propane tank covered with vile graffiti. We cancelled service because we didn’t want all the neighborhood kids trying to read the filth. Jordan found a bucket of paint and got most of it covered up before the evening service.

That week was to be the start of our kindergarten year of homeschooling our oldest child, Brianna. On the very first day of school, Kayla received a phone call from our friends, Tony and Monica, saying they wanted to stop by with a little something to cheer up our family. We had not an inkling of an idea what they had in mind. When they came into our living room, Tony began pulling and tugging at his sweatshirt and soon pulled out the sweetest golden…

In the news today: Feds open the way to legalization of marijuana on Native American reservations. Several federal regulations will remain in place regarding sale to minors and transporting to places where it is illegal. Each federally recognized tribe will be allowed to ban the growing and sale of weed in states where it is legal or legalize it in states where it remains illegal.

I haven’t heard yet what course Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will pursue. Proponents for legalization will cite the potential for increased revenue from taxes. I know many respected leaders hate the sad legacy of alcohol abuse and addiction here on the reservation that has caused immeasurable harm. I hope they will stand honorably and withstand every pressure favoring legalization. It’s a shame that vices provide big business on the reservation.

Christmas is sitting up through the night with a grieving family and being able to tell them they can make it because God is with us.

We want the magical, the festive, or perhaps the contemplative Christmas. We want the hot chocolate and fireplaces. We want children’s eyes sparkling with wonder. We want hearts exploding with jubilant carols. We want the idyllic Christmas nativity program with almost perfect cherubs and slightly mischievous shepherds, a sweet Mary and kind Joseph, and a cute little baby doll wrapped up tight. We want Christmas to be perfect.

We light a few candles. We put fresh hay down and make sure there’s no manure in this rustic stable. It’s got to be perfect. It’s got to feel like Christmas.

But can there even be Christmas for the young lady who has just lost her mom? Can there be Christmas when emotions are raw and pain is deep? Can there be Christmas when it all feels hopeless?

Just maybe the grieving and hurting will not be so distracted by the glitz and glimmer of Christmas. Maybe now their eyes can focus on the God of Christmas.

Perhaps the best Christmas is when we see Bethlehem’s Baby for who He is–Jesus, the One who would take away the sins of the world. Perhaps the best Christmas is when we see the Christ-Child as He is–Emmanuel, God with us, walking with us in human experience. Surely the perfect Christmas is more than a sanitized storybook Christmas with colorful scenes recapturing childish imagination. It’s more than words and images, fancy or even history. Christmas is God stepping into the story of our lives… as Savior, to forgive our sins… as Emmanuel, to walk along the pathway of human experience with us.

So perhaps if you want to feel the spirit of Christmas, instead of scheduling another party, go visit a grieving friend. I believe you will sense the presence of the Christ-child because “the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”

I lost another friend to alcohol last night. Cirrhosis. Only 46 years old. My mind is still groggy from sitting up through the night with the family after they received word of her passing. Her name is added to a long list of tragedies that have deeply affected people I love. She was a dear friend to our family and I enjoyed many long visits with her.

> My wife’s uncle spent something like 10 years in jail. A DUI that left another driver dead.

> A local friend lost her dad in a drunken crash.

> A parishioner lost 3 sons in their DUI accident. You can see their markers down by the river. In a separate accident several years later, another son was critically injured, nearly died and is incapable for independent living.

> A neighbor’s son hanged himself while intoxicated.

> One elderly grandma who attends our church struggles daily with alcoholism and it has affected all of her family with most of them taking the same path. The last time she came to church, she gave me a list of 8-10 children or grandchildren in jail currently for incidents where alcohol was a primary factor.

I have to go now, but my list could go on and on.

Let me just say, I hate alcohol and I hate what it has done to the people I love.

Our family always prays before meals. We want to express our gratitude to God for what He has provided. With that very regular routine, however, it’s easy for the meal prayer to become just that–a routine. The children too often blurt out a quick “Thank you, Jesus, for our food” as they are reaching for their fork to gobble down their food. And all too often, my wife and I are hungry and harried and ready to hurry through a quick prayer.

It’s not supposed to be that way. We truly want the meal prayer to be a humble expression of gratitude. When we realize that this simple prayer time is getting hollow and cheap, we try to counter that in one way or another. Sometimes we just remind the child we call on to say grace of several things they could mention in their prayer.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized we needed to something a bit different for a while and jotted down a meal prayer for our family to say together. We’ve not over-used it, but the kids have memorized it now. Prayer time is again a bright spot in our day to help our family to start our meals with a thankful heart. I don’t know about you, but I think a meal just tastes a whole lot better and is more filling when you are grateful. Here’s the prayer we have been praying together for our meals recently:

By new mercies daily blessed

Surrounded by Your faithfulness

Lord, we thank you for our food

Life and happy family too

Loving, kind, forgiving, true

May we always honor You.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Do you have a favorite meal prayer, perhaps even one you learned as a child? I would love share it with my family if you would like to share it in the comment section below.